Cherel Haines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cherel de Villiers-Haines is one of the main – fictional – characters in the South African daily drama Isidingo. The role is by portrayed by Michelle Botes. The character is devious and power-hungry. However, she has often times gained the sympathy of the audience by showing both vulnerability and strength of will.
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[edit] Character background
According to the show's website, Cherel had a working class background, suffering sexual abuse from her father Nico. She ran away from home when still a teenager, surviving by prostitution, and eventually became the secretary to the mine manager, Pierre de Villiers, who she manipulated into marrying her. She began a love affair with Gideon Voster, but had him killed by a hitman, Slang Bornman, when he became too demanding. Bornman went too far and killed the entire Voster family. Cherel shot Bornman in the mine manager's house, leading to the suicide of his wife, and destitution for his children Farrow Bornman and Anton Bornman.
[edit] Main events for Cherel's character
[edit] 2003 - 2004
Tanya Raymond was introduced as an inquisitive journalist who kept calling Cherel, saying she admired her and wanted to interview her. Cherel was suspicious and tried to avoid Tanya, but she persisted. Eventually she admitted she was Cherel's daughter and had been adopted by the Raymonds in Cape Town. She had had a good life and was well-provided for, but needed to satisfy her curiosity about her mother. Cherel initially tried to distance herself from Tanya, asserting that she was not a mother and could never be one. But she allowed Tanya to become her PA and live with her in the Haines household until she began to value Tanya and wanted to develop their relationship.
At the same time Tanya had located the down-and-out Nico, who she thought was just her grandfather. She couldn't understand what Cherel had against him, and got angry with Cherel while she grew closer to Nico.
Cherel couldn't bear the thought that Nico might end up abusing Tanya too, but she couldn't tell Tanya the truth because it was too disturbing. She confided in Len and Barker but begged them not to tell Tanya either. Barker was very supportive of his wife and arranged for Nico to disappear. In the meantime Tanya found out that Len had previously slept with Cherel and got suspicious about their renewed friendship and Nico's disappearance. Cherel used this opportunity to make it look like she was still sleeping with Len. Heartbroken about the joint betrayal Tanya flew back to Cape Town and stayed out of contact for a year.
[edit] 2004 - 2005
Cherel was arrested and charged for the murder of Duncan Haines after his body was found in a mine shaft following Vusi's prophetic dreams. She denied everything but Barker had been suspicious for a while and rejected her after the arrest. He demanded a divorce and plotted revenge. Cherel had a hard time in jail, being assaulted by inmates such as Thandeka but eventually winning their respect because of her toughness.
During her court case she defended herself by falsely claiming that Duncan had tried to rape her. She said this had reminded her so strongly of abuse during her childhood that she reacted instinctively in self defense. Tanya came back up to Joburg for the trial. She testified in her mother's defense that she was the product of incest and that her father was Cherel's father. As a result Cherel was acquitted. Her lawyer JJ fell for her and they had a short fling. Cherel couldn't believe her luck; even her relationship with Tanya was going well.
One night Tanya overheard Cherel and Vusi arguing about Duncan's death and realised her mother was actually guilty. She was extremely disturbed by this and began to distrust and avoid Cherel. This made JJ suspicious and he too broke off his relationship with her.
Tanya turned to Cherel's enemies Barker and Leon (Dup) for support. Cherel believed that Tanya and Leon were mismatched and tried to win her daughter back by sending flowers and gifts. However she complicated matters by sleeping with Len, who Tanya had started a promising relationship with in late 2003 (also ruined by Cherel). Eventually Tanya had enough and told Cherel she wished she could remove her mother's genes from herself and that she wanted nothing more to do with her. Tanya then married Dup in a ceremony sponsored by Barker.
Cherel was defrauded of all her assets by an old friend, seemingly the only person left who she could turn to. He was slightly greasy and she resisted his advances which made him resent her. However he was forced to defraud her by Barker.
Destitute Cherel returned to prostitution to support herself. Thandeka saved her from a suicide attempt in a cheap hotel room by forcing her to throw up the pills she had swallowed. Together they hatched a scheme to improve their bleak finances by swindling a businessman out of R100 thousand.
Cherel met with Frank Xavier and managed to get her own TV show, Straight Talk, at ON! She was attracted to Frank, but he ultimately rejected her advances.
In late November Tanya committed suicide. Before her death, Tanya located Cherel to apologise for any pain she had caused her, and said, "I love you." She also implied Cherel had been right about her misjudged marriage to Dup but gave no hint about her planned suicide. Cherel had to identify Tanya's body at the morgue. She also attended Tanya's funeral, where she blamed Barker for Tanya's death, and threatened him with revenge.
[edit] 2006
Cherel became interested in a show called Fight Club. With Len's help she bought the rights to the show and began to look for a crew.
Rajesh protected Cherel from some violent fighters in the ON!TV boardroom. Later she saved his life from the same men in the ON! garage. Much to Lee's dismay he was flattered by Cherel's praise and impressed by her dangerous aura, and they became romantically involved.
[edit] 2007
One of the guests on Cherel's show held her and Rajesh hostage in Natasha's house for a number of days. They discovered that his claim of innocence for the murder of his wife was true; however, he demanded R1 million from Rajesh, which Rajesh paid to save himself and Cherel. The man shot himself in the head when police located them. This experience brought Cherel and Rajesh closer together. Rajesh mentioned feeling love for Cherel, and for a month or two it seemed she might redeem herself through her new relationship.
In March Anton Bornman came to Horizon Deep looking for his father's killer. Lolly's interview with him showed how much his life was changed by his parents' deaths. The interview left Rajesh disturbed and distant. Cherel made things worse by inviting Anton to her show and apparently milking him for all the publicity she could get to restore her show's flagging ratings. Paul McPherson her production assistant tried to dissuade Cherel from having Anton on the show but she wouldn't listen.
During her show, after she had shouted at him, calling him a "sick, twisted little man" who needed to get on with his life and "get over it" Anton attacked and tried to suffocate Cherel. Security guards thwarted Anton's attempts with pepper spray and Lolly and Rajesh saved her with CPR. She was mute in hospital for a few days, where Rajesh called off their relationship while she was unable to say a word in her defense.
After the controversial show Cherel's fans disapproved of her vocally. She became paranoid, suspecting everyone of plotting against her, including Paul and the police. Vusi came to tell her he had had dreams about her, where those she had wronged sat with her in a circle on a field. One by one they had got up to pat her on top of the head; under their hands something wriggled in her skull and tried to get out. It was her past trying to escape. Cherel began scratching her head obsessively, even on during a televised interview with a guest on "Straight Talk". Eventually she tried to cut her head with a blade and landed up in a mental hospital.
